The Mighty Heart of the Blue Paladin
by Sealure
Summary: Either Blue and Lance surrendered and let themselves be captured by Haggar, or she would use the hold she had on them to capture and hurt all of Lance's dearest friends. His family. There...there really wasn't a choice at all, was there?
1. One For All

**Hello, my darlings!  
**

**So, I actually ****have this semester off. I'm hoping that I'll be able to update and publish a lot more in the spring. You guys have been so patient and supportive and I cannot begin to describe to you how much every single one of you means to me. You guys are my heroes, and why I keep writing. **

**So this is a new little thing that's been sitting in my documents for...you know what, nevermind. Nobody wants to know how long this has just been sitting there. **

**BUT IT'S LANGST! WHO DOESN'T LOVE A GOOD LANGST! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**Spoilers: Um, the general premise of the show, and a little bit of season two, when Zarkon is chasing them all over the place. It's obviously an AU. This chapter doesn't have spoilers for any particular episode. This is supposed to be a multi-chapter fic, so if any other chapters have specific spoilers or warnings, I'll let you know. **

**Warnings: Just a lot of emotions.**

**Little dialogue key for you: **

"Conversation between Paladins."

"_Conversation from the Castle." _

_A Paladin to a lion_

**_A lion to a Paladin_**

**So without further ado, b****race yourselves, and enjoy!**

* * *

_One for All_

* * *

Zarkon had found them yet again, sending the exhausted, sleep-deprived Paladins reeling down the halls of the Castle at a dead run, hauling on their armor as they went and stumbling into their lions, stifling their yawns as they pulled their helmets on.

Countless fleets warped into existence around them, and all traces of sleepiness vanished as Voltron burst into being once more. But it didn't take longer than a few minutes for the tides of battle to drive the Castle and Voltron far apart.

Allura and Coran were shouting over the comms, frantically doing all they could to help, but the fleets of Galra warships seemed to have only one goal: keep Voltron as far away from the Castle as possible.

"Come on, Team!" Shiro shouted above the blaring alarms. "I need everything you got!"

"We're trying, Shiro!" Hunk yelled back.

Lance gritted his teeth, twisting Blue around and pouring more power into her thrusters as he tried to keep them away from the countless battle cruisers surrounding Voltron. _Come on, Blue! _

She growled in his mind, waves of determination to _protect _their team flowing across their bond.

There was a sudden bolt of alarm from Pidge, carried easily through the Paladin bond that tied them all together.

"Guys, I'm picking up on a surge of energy from the lower part of the flagship!" she said, concern audible in her voice.

"What kind of energy?" Shiro grunted as Voltron narrowly evaded a blast from an ion cannon.

"Not the good kind!" Pidge answered grimly. "The energy signature...well, it's almost a perfect match for Haggar's."

Lance groaned and let his head thump back against his seat. "I really hate her."

"Focus, Lance!" Shiro snapped as Voltron took a hit to the back.

Lance winced, grabbing the controls again. "Sorry."

"Pidge, can you tell what the energy is for?" Keith grunted as his lion grabbed a drone ship and sent it spiraling into another.

"No," she grumbled. "It's still building. It's not powering anything, either. It's a huge power source that's just hovering on the lowest level of the flagship."

Hunk whined. "That makes me _very _uneasy," he complained. "The last time she hit us with one of those, our wormhole spat us out in like, five different corners of the universe."

Lance snorted. "And you said _I_ was bad at geometry."

"Focus, guys!" Shiro said again. "Let's worry about Haggar later. Right now, we just need to get back to the Castle so we can get out of here."

"Yes, sir!" four voices shouted in unison.

Conversation died out as they focused on the battle once more, Shiro's intentions flowing clearly through the Paladin bond, guiding them through the laser storm.

"Crap!" Pidge yelled suddenly. "That energy source just spiked, Shiro! We're out of time!"

"Alright," Shiro said grimly. "Come on, guys! We gotta get out of here before she lets that loose. Hunk, Lance, I need full thrusters straight ahead. We're just going to have to punch a hole to the Castle."

"Yes, sir!" Lance said grimly.

He and Blue reached out for Hunk and Yellow and they met them halfway and they poured everything they had into _keeping their friends safe. _Both Paladins and Lions worked in perfect tandem to get them away from whatever crazy scheme Haggar was trying this time.

Lance almost missed the flicker of violent purple/black light in the corner of his eye. Almost. But he saw it. He didn't have time for more than a gasp and desperate _wrench _at his controls, reversing Blue's thrusters and doing everything in his power to steer them clear.

But even as he moved, he knew it wouldn't be enough.

"Lance!" Shiro shouted, frustration clear in his voice. "I said full thrusters _forward, _not backw—"

All of the Paladins let out various sounds of shock as a massive jolt tore through Voltron.

Lance gave a short shriek, squeezing his eyes shut and bracing himself as the torrent of what looked like purple-edged black lightning crashed full into Blue. A split second passed with no pain, and Lance cracked his eyes open only to almost choke on his own tongue. The Druid's power had tightened into a noose, wrapped solidly around Blue's cockpit. Through their bond, he could feel the oily, tainted dark magic weaving itself into an inescapable web all around Blue's body.

"Well that's not ideal," he said, his voice sounding thin and shaky even to his own ears. "Bad. Actually, very bad. Exceptionally not good."

"What's not good?!" Shiro barked. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, Shiro!" Lance said. "I tried to get us far enough away, but I couldn't. It's got me-_ee!" _

His voice lifted into a panicked yelp as the web contracted, making Blue yowl in pain. Bright red alerts sprang up on Lance's screens, warnings that Blue's outer layer was dangerously close to breaching. Her thrusters sputtered and died, and her body was _jerked _roughly towards the flagship.

"What do you mean it's got you?!" Hunk gasped.

"Lance," Pidge cut in, concern clear in her voice. "Why am I hearing alarms from your end?"

"It's trying to pull us in," Lance responded, hands shaking as they flew over his controls. "I'm trying to get loose, but it's damaged my thrusters. I can't get free!"

"My thrusters are still at full capacity!" Hunk said. "I can—"

"No!" Lance said firmly. "No, Hunk. That'll push Voltron even closer."

"Keith," Shiro said, his voice radiating urgency. "See the main line of power leading back to the ship? Can you cut through it with the sword?"

"I can try!" Keith said grimly.

With a little difficulty, Voltron twisted so Keith could bring the blade down on the gleaming purple beam. Lance felt his heart plummet as it just rebounded, almost coming loose from Red's grip.

"Oh, that's not good," he said weakly. Then he screamed when the net tightened, the creaking and groaning of bending metal audible even through his helmet.

Hunk was the only one close enough to see Blue's outer plating start to buckle and crack under the pressure.

"LANCE!" he screamed. "Oh gosh, okay, buddy calm down it's okay, we're gonna—"

"Hunk, what's—" Shiro started, but Lance cut him off with another panicked shriek as the dark magic _spread,_ oozing around Blue like some sort of putrid liquid until it seeped down over Blue's eyes, successfully blinding Lance. Blue was screaming her own panic in his head, thrashing wildly but unable to move a single inch.

"HUNK WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Shiro roared.

"It's...It's the net!" the Yellow Paladin said frantically. "It's—oh, _quiznak_—it's crushing them!"

"Keith, cut through it!"

"I'm _trying!"_

_**Paladin! **_Blue cried. **_The darkness is still spreading. It is reaching for the others! She means to ensnare all of Voltron! _**

Horror froze Lance to his seat for the span of a heartbeat before he jerked back into action. He would _not _let this witch use him to hurt his family.

"No! No, stop!" he shouted down the comms, interrupting the others. "_Stop_! It's dragging Voltron closer and it's using me and Blue to do it! You need to separate back into Lions and _leave me!"_

"NO!" Pidge half-screamed, terrified fury zinging down the Paladin bond. "I am _not _losing another big brother!"

"Pidge is right, Lance," Shiro said. "I'm not allowing this."

"I'm not asking," Lance's voice was sterner than they'd ever heard it. Then it grew gentle. "I love you guys."

Then Lance reached out with his mind.

_Get me free, Blue. We've gotta keep the others safe. _

_**Together, my Paladin. **_

And the Blue Lion tore herself away from Voltron.

"LANCE!"

"NO!"

"What are you _doing?!" _

"Get back here, you idiot!"

The desperation in their voices wrenched at his heart, but there was no way he was taking them down with him.

It was better this way.

"It's okay," he said. "It's okay, guys, really. You need to go."

"No!" Pidge cried.

"We are _not _leaving you, Lance!" Hunk bellowed.

"Yes! Yes you are!" Lance shouted. "Go! Now! She hasn't realized that it's only me she's caught yet!"

"No!" Keith argued. "We leave all together or not at all!"

"Shiro!" Lance gasped. Surely he would understand. "Shiro, you have to get them out of here! Please, Shiro!"

"Lance," Shiro said helplessly, "I can't—"

"_Please!" _Lance begged. "Please, Shiro, you've…you've got to get out of here." Realizing that he wasn't getting through, Lance changed tactics. "You have to get the others out of here! Please, Shiro! You have to keep them safe! You promised Pidge you'd help her find her family!"

A dull thud sounded through the comms, making Lance think Shiro had just punched the wall of his cockpit.

"That was a low blow," the Black Paladin managed.

Lance gave a gasping laugh. "Did it work?"

"No!" Keith snapped. "No, no, no."

"Yep," Lance replied. "You've gotta go, guys."

"_Paladins, you must hurry!" _Allura cried over the comms. "_If Zarkon captures Voltron—"_

"Forget Voltron!" Pidge shouted. "Lance, we are not leaving you."

But Lance had found an ally. "Allura!" He gasped, letting out a choked snarl as the dark net tightened around him and his lion once more. "Allura, get them out of here!"

_"We cannot allow Zarkon to capture all of the lions!"_ the Princess said, no room for negotiation in her voice. "_If a single lion is captured, we can rescue them. We have done it before, we can do it again. What we **cannot **do is lose all of them at once! Now retreat, Paladins! This is an order!" _

"NO!" Pidge, Hunk, and Keith's voices overlapped.

"We are not leaving him to them," Shiro said. His voice was quiet, but it rang with steel.

Lance hissed through his teeth. _Blue, I need you to connect me to all the other lions. _

_**Done.**_

_Lions of Voltron_, he said, _I'm the Blue Paladin. And as I'm sure you've noticed, the two of us are very much stuck._

_**Not for long,**_ snarled Red.

Lance sighed. _And this is where I ask you to do something you really don't want to do. I need you to leave us. _

_**No! **_Red roared.

_**Why would you ask us to do this? **_Green yowled. _**I agree with Red—our Paladins have lost enough brothers.**_

_Yeah, they have._ Lance agreed easily. _But I'd really rather they live to miss me, if you get my drift. _

_**You ask us to leave behind one of our own, **_Black rumbled, and Lance could feel her sorrow—but also her understanding.

_Sacrifice one to save all the others,_ he said heavily.

_**Please do not ask this of us,**_ Yellow whispered. _**Blue, please. **_

_**I am sorry, **_she said, pain radiating through her voice. _**But I am begging you—do not let me be the reason he gets his hands on you. **_

_Please, _Lance begged. He could hear the other Paladins on the comms, screaming his name. His prolonged silence was scaring them. _Please. Protect your Paladins. They are my family. For the sake of your Paladins, you have to go. _

Black gave a long, mournful keen. _**To protect the others, **_she said, _**I shall honor this request, Paladin. Be careful, my sister.**_

Lance closed his eyes in relief and sagged back against his chair. _Thank you, Black. _

Green whimpered, and the sound tore at his heart. _**Please come back to us soon, sister. **_

_**I shall do all in my power to do so,**_ Blue promised.

Yellow cried. _**I will keep them safe, **_he vowed. _**And in your stead, Paladin, we shall make them smile. **_

And Lance laughed, even as tears filled his eyes. _Thank you so much. _

Red screamed. _**NO! No, I will NOT leave you! **_

_**Please, brother,**_ Blue begged. _**Please. I need you to keep them safe. **_

_**No,**_ he whispered. _**Blue, don't leave me. Paladin, please. Do not ask this of us. We have lost so much. **_

Lance clapped a hand over his mouth to stifle his sobs, but he knew the lions could still feel it. All of them reached out and their sorrow and grief washed through him.

_I'm so sorry, Red,_ he said. _But I need to know that you'll do everything you can to keep the others safe. Please. _

_**I promise,**_ he said, and Lance could feel his pain like a knife through the ribs.

_**I love you, brother, **_Blue murmured, and Red threw back his head and roared.

_**I love you, sister, **_he whispered, and then he twisted around on himself and shot for the Castle as fast as he could.

"What are you doing?!" Keith screamed at his lion as Lance tuned back into the chatter over the comms. "Turn around! Turn around!"

"No! Stop!" Hunk shouted as Yellow followed Red.

"No! Nonononononono!" Pidge howled as Green gave a mournful wail and fled after her brothers.

"Wha—" Shiro gasped. "Lance! What did you do?!"

"I'm sorry," Lance whispered. "I'm so sorry. I love you guys. Please be safe."

"No!" Shiro shouted as Black threw back her mighty head and roared, saluting the Blue Lion and her Paladin, wrapping them in her mind one last time before she too, turned and bore her own pilot back to safety, honoring the final wish of the Blue Paladin.

And Lance smiled, smiled as red lights flashed and a slew of injuries made themselves known. He kept smiling when Galra soldiers dragged him out of Blue's ruined cockpit, and he smirked when he heard the soldiers start cursing as Blue immediately put up her particle shield, and none of them could get through it. He smiled when he was forced to his knees in front of a throne. He was still smiling when they flung him into a tiny, freezing cold cell and slammed the door. And then, when he was alone, he cried.

Because they were safe, but he was alone.

But they were safe, so it didn't really matter.

* * *

**And there's that! **

**I know it's pretty short, but there's two more chapters of this already done. I'm putting this on an every-other-week update schedule and am currently working on the fourth and final chapter now, so hopefully it should be done by the time I publish chapter three. **

**Let me know what you guys thought! **


	2. And All For One

**I AM SO SORRY! I know this is super, super late, but I just completely forgot about it and got totally carried away by some other things in my life. You guys are the most amazing people ever and I'm SO SORRY to make you wait so long! **

**So without further ado, here you go! **

* * *

_And All For One_

* * *

The Lions flew into the Castle, but they didn't go to their own hangars. They all crowded into Black's, and they got as close to each other as they could. They waited until they felt the familiar sensation of the Castle going through a wormhole.

Then—and only then—did they release their furious and heartbroken paladins.

"_WHY DID YOU DO THAT!" _Pidge screamed, throwing herself at Green and pounding at her metal leg. "Why, why, why…." Green let out a quiet wail and lowered her head as her Paladin's screams turned to sobs. The lion curled around Pidge and cried with her.

Hunk stared at his lion with a numb look on his face. Yellow shrunk to the ground and whimpered, and Hunk all but collapsed against him, sobbing. Yellow curled his tail around his Paladin and held him tight.

Keith let out a wordless howl of anger and punched the wall with all his strength. Red was growling softly, still trembling from grief.

Shiro just sat down, head in his hands.

"What happened?!" Coran cried as he came racing into the hangar.

"The lions took control," Hunk whispered.

"They _abandoned _Lance and Blue," Keith snarled. "We were going to try and save them and they _left them_." He slugged the wall again, and a harsh _crack_ told the others that he'd just broken his hand. He didn't appear to care.

Coran's mouth opened. "But—but—"

"It wasn't the lions," Shiro said heavily, prying himself off the floor and going to Keith.

"What are you talking about?" Pidge said, straightening.

Shiro sighed. He gently grabbed Keith's broken hand and pulled it towards him, carefully prodding it. "Lance did something. I think he convinced them to save us instead of him."

Keith gaped at him.

Hunk sobbed out a laugh. "He would."

"But that's unheard of!" Coran gasped. "No paladin has ever been able to connect and speak with the other lions!"

"Unheard of. Impossible. As loyal as you could possibly get. Utterly selfless and stupidly self-sacrificing," Pidge ticked off on her fingers. She pushed her glasses up her nose. "Yep. Sounds like Lance."

Green let out a quiet keen and lowered her head to her paws. Yellow curled up tighter, and Red let out a low cry.

Shiro turned to Black. "Is that what he did?"

Black looked down at him.

_**Yes, my pilot. The Blue Paladin is ever loyal, ever faithful. They have always valued the lives of their families above their own. The Blue Paladin begged us to save you, and we could not refuse his plea. Sacrifice one for the lives of the others. **_

Shiro closed his eyes. Pidge sat down hard on the floor, fingers buried in her hair and pulling hard, face hidden in her knees. Hunk pressed harder against Yellow, and the lion did his best to purr for him. Keith turned to Red.

"Is it true?"

Red straightened, eyes burning.

_**I would never abandon my sister,**_ he snarled, _**nor her paladin. We will be utterly lost without them.**_

Keith nodded. Then he swallowed hard and buried his face in Shiro's shoulder.

"We'll get them back," Shiro vowed, turning determined eyes on the rest of them. "No matter what it takes, we will get them back."

* * *

Lance stared up at the wall. The cell was freezing cold, and his cracked and damaged armor was doing little to regulate his temperature like it was supposed to.

The only light was that awful purple stuff, and _man _he was really starting to hate that color. He lifted his head from the floor, but even that tiny movement made the room start spinning, so he quickly put it back down.

"Ugh," he groaned. "_Querido Dios, como es esto mi vida?"_

The door screeched open, and he slowly blinked up at the blurry figure that had entered.

"Lord Zarkon requests your presence," intoned the harsh, guttural tones of a real, flesh and blood Galra, not one of those blasted drones.

"He requests?" Lance croaked. "Oh, how nice. Since he asked so kindly, do me a favor and tell him he can go and shove his _request_ up his—"

The Galra snarled, leaping forward and dragging him up off the floor only to slam him into the wall. "You _will _show the proper respect, Paladin scum," he growled.

Lance was desperately trying not to scream as his injured body violently protested the rough handling. "Right, right," he gasped. "Respect. Let me rephrase. Will you go tell Zarkon to _please _shove his request up—"

The soldier roared and bashed Lance's head against the wall. A small cry of pain escaped him as stars exploded before his eyes, quickly followed by a rushing darkness that blacked out his whole world.

* * *

The next time Lance woke up, it was to a bucket of water being dumped over his head.

He automatically tried to sit up, and immediately regretted all of his life's decisions as _pain_ screamed through his entire body.

He sagged back down to the floor, groaning quietly.

"I see you are awake again, Blue Paladin," spoke a quiet, rasping voice from the corner of the cell.

Lance's head whipped around, and he couldn't help the terror that rose in him as he saw Haggar's eyes glowing beneath the darkness of her hood. Her mouth twisted into a smile that made Lance feel sick.

"I think we're going to have a wonderful time together," she said. "_Champion."_

Lance's heart stopped. _Oh, no._

Haggar's smile only widened. "Let us begin."

* * *

**Again, I am so sorry this is so late. Things should be (theoretically) calming down in my life in the next little bit, so I'm hoping I'll be able to get a lot of work done on all my standing stories. **

**Anyway! I know these first two chapters are really short, but chapter three is an absolute monster: it's over four thousand words. SO yeah. There's a lot more angst and Lance torture in that one, too...**

**It should be up Saturday after next, and if it's not, blow up my inbox. I probably forgot about it. **

**Loved it? Hated it? Let me know! **

**Till next time! **


	3. When Ocean Eyes Are Absent

**HALLOOO MY LOVELIES! **

**So, this is not on time. **

**At all. **

**I...I am so sorry. I have no excuse, I literally just point-blank forgot about it. **

**MY BAD! **

**BUT ANYWAY.**

**This is the next-to-last chapter of this story. This is where the angst gets good, people. Or bad, depends how you look at it. **

**WARNINGS: non-consensual body modifications (Haggar, anyone?), blood, mentions of torture, ya know, the usual. **

* * *

_When Ocean Eyes are Absent_

* * *

It took them far too long to get to him.

Far, far too long.

A year and a half too long.

A year and a half of horribly silent Castle hallways. Six months of Blue's mournful cries echoing through the night after they found her, abandoned, in a half-destroyed warship. A year and a half of Keith training himself to total collapse. A year and a half of Hunk losing too much weight, stress cooking and having nervous breakdowns and anxiety attacks near constantly. A year and a half of Pidge not sleeping and not eating, just desperately searching for yet another brother until she passed out over her computer again. A year and a half of Shiro's nightmare filled nights with no source of comfort. A year and a half of Allura growing harder and colder and harsher. A year and a half of Coran turning into a silent, pale ghost.

But finally—finally, finally, _finally_—they had found him. They had managed to reach Zarkon's flagship, smuggled in by the Blade of Marmora.

They were getting their Blue Paladin back, or they were going to die trying.

"I don't know where she's been keeping him," their contact, a commander named Thace, murmured. "But the witch has been going on and on about her new Champion. She calls him Sharpshooter. But her mood seems to change from quintant to quintant. One morning, she'll be swearing that his loyalty is to her and none other. The next morning, seventeen high-security prisoners will have miraculously escaped, and we'll hear him screaming for hours."

Shiro looked like he was about to be sick, and the others didn't look much better.

"Rest easy," Thace assured them, misreading their concern entirely. "Your Paladin has not broken. He refused to breathe so much as a word to Haggar. He has resisted her completely. Such loyalty is rare in this universe."

"I _literally _could not care less about what information he has shared," Keith snapped. "I just want to get him back!"

"We've got to find him," Shiro whispered. "Pidge, do your thing."

She nodded, grabbing Thace's arm and dragging him to the nearest terminal. His eyebrows went up, but he went with her willingly.

She pressed Thace's hand against the sensor and got to work. Her fingers flew across the keypad with feverish speed, reading the Galra symbols as easily as though they were English.

"Got him," she said hoarsely. "Cell block…uh…" she tilted her head. "That's…not a cell block. Where is that?"

Thace looked over her head with ease, and sucked in a sharp breath. "He is being held in the cells next to Haggar's lab," he said gravely.

"No," Shiro paled. "No, no, no…"

"Come," Thace rose to his full height. "I will take you there. I have Haggar's trust—seeing me around the lab will not arouse suspicion. Hurry!"

They fled through the ship as fast as they could. Almost every corner they turned, there was another member of the Blade to direct them through an air vent, down a service corridor, calling off guards and sending drones on wild goose chases.

Finally, they reached the cell that Lance was in.

It took Pidge _maybe _ten seconds to get the door open, and they were bursting through the door, Thace's desperate warning of "Careful!" being utterly disregarded.

They slammed to a stop almost as soon as they entered.

There was a thin figure slumped on the floor against the far wall, dressed in nothing but a loose, ragged pair of black trousers. When the door opened, he wearily raised his head, and _it was Lance_.

Or, rather, it was _most_ of Lance.

"Lance?" Shiro said, voice breaking as he fully took in the form of the boy.

His left arm was gone, replaced by a Galra prosthetic. The metal reached even farther than Shiro's did. It went all the way to his collarbone, where it was obviously screwed into the bones. Both of his feet were prosthetics, and his skin was a nightmarish canvas of scars. The entire left half of his torso was covered in a horrifying amount of burn scars that stretched from his hip up to his metal arm. He was well muscled, obviously from Arena fights, but he was too thin—they could count his ribs. Not quite starved, but just on the edge of it.

The worst part by far was the chains—and the muzzle.

A metal muzzle was clamped around Lance's face, covering his mouth and wrapping all the way around his head.

There were thick metal shackles on his wrists, and chains held him securely against the wall. A thick chain ran from each shackle to the wall, and a much shorter length of chain bound his hands together, pulling his shoulders back painfully.

But his blue eyes were bright and fierce and unbroken. When he saw them, his eyes widened. Then he scrambled to get his feet under him and stand.

Shiro was the first to recover, moving across the room, and Lance threw himself to the end of his chains, wrenching his shoulders back, desperate to get closer. Shiro leaped the last few feet and flung his arms around the boy. A high, desperate sound made its way through the muzzle, and Lance all but collapsed into Shiro's chest, entire body shaking.

"Get these chains off of him," Shiro rasped, and Hunk and Pidge unfroze, springing into action.

They ran forwards, and Lance made that sound again, and his arms jerked, like he'd tried to reach out to them but been stopped by the chains.

Hunk saw it, too, and Shiro stepped back so the Yellow Paladin could wrap his best friend in a gentle, shaky embrace.

"Oh, hermano," Hunk said, voice choked up. He pressed a gentle kiss to Lance's temple, and the slender boy sobbed.

Pidge was steadily sobbing herself, and she pressed close to Lance's other side, winding her short arms around his waist. "You idiot," she hiccupped. "You quiznaking moron."

Lance carefully pulled away from Hunk and bent at the waist so he could bump his head against Pidge's. A tearful smile lifted her lips, and she slowly reached up towards him.

"Can you kneel for me?" she asked. "I wanna get this—this _thing_ off your face."

"We don't have time for that," Thace cautioned, stepping inside the cell himself.

Lance started to jerk away from him, but then he seemed to recognize him and relaxed, nodding to the commander.

Thace nodded back, a little smile on his face.

"Save your reunions for when you are safe on board your own ship," he advised. "We need to get you out now."

Hunk nodded, moving behind Lance. He let out a strangled sound a moment later, and the others quickly scrambled around to see what the problem was.

What was left of his skin was covered in scars of all sorts, but many of them ran from his shoulders to his hips: whipping scars. But that wasn't even the half of it. Lance's spine had been replaced with Galra tech. There was no skin covering it, so they could see the gears and couplings shifting with every movement of Lance's remaining back muscles. The skin along the edges of the implant looked as though it had been burned and melted into the metal, securing it in place.

Hunk lost control of his stomach at the grisly wound and doubled over in the corner of the cell, vomiting. Shiro's face went pasty white, and Pidge screamed, slamming her hands over her mouth and staggering into Shiro's side. Keith went very, very still, and his hands were shaking.

Even Thace looked disturbed. "I knew the witch was depraved," he murmured, shaking his head. "But to deliberately inflict a mutilation like this upon a _child_…"

"That doesn't look new," Pidge finally managed to get out, voice shaking.

Thace shook his head again, stepping a bit closer to examine the gruesome sight. "No," he said. "I've been stationed in another quadrant for several movements now, so I haven't seen him in some time. But I heard the rumors that he had rebelled against the witch again. I later received the full report of what he had done. He freed two entire cell blocks of prisoners and managed to get every single one of them into an escape pod. Not only that, he used his arm to disable all tracking abilities in the pods and fought off nearly three squadrons of drones and guards to make sure the prisoners escaped."

"Of course he did," Keith muttered, stepping back around his friend so Lance could lean on him. The injured Paladin's legs were shaking slightly, belaying his weakness, and he closed his eyes as he rested his head on the older boy's shoulder. Keith automatically tilted his own head, pressing their temples together in a gentle, comforting touch.

Thace smiled slightly at the sight. "I was not jesting when I mentioned him saving slaves earlier. This is not the first time he has done so. But his punishment…well." The Galra gestured to Lance's bionic limbs. "She took a piece of him every time he fought back. As you can see, it did not really deter him. But never before has he acted out so blatantly, so openly. She must have taken his spine in an attempt to break his renewed fighting spirit. But that was nearly sixteen moon cycles ago—about eight of your earth months. He has made appearances in the Arena since then, but this is the first time I have seen him."

Hunk bit back his tears, wiped his mouth and moved to the wall, pulling the chain taught. "Keith," he said hoarsely. "I need you to cut the chain. Shiro, can you get the other side and hold it tight so it doesn't jerk on Lance when we cut it?"

Shiro nodded, easily moving into place.

Keith carefully transferred Lance's weight to Pidge and stalked over, drawing and activating his bayard in one movement. He put all of his anger, all of his pain, and all of his grief at what had been done to his friend into his strike.

The chains didn't stand a chance.

Lance closed his eyes tightly, a single tear escaping as he heard the offending pieces of metal crashing to the floor.

"Come on, buddy," Shiro said softly. He rested a hand on the boy's shoulder, and those bright blues locked onto his warm charcoal greys. "Let's get you home."

Lance met his eyes with nothing but trust and leaned into him. Shiro carefully put an arm around his back and under his knees and lifted him off the floor.

"You should _not _be this easy to carry," he muttered. "You are way too thin, kiddo."

Lance gave a half-hearted _what can you do _shrug and tucked his forehead against Shiro's neck, his blue eyes sliding shut again in exhaustion and pain and relief.

They made their way out of the ship with as little trouble as they'd had coming in. Each Blade member they passed offered Lance a solemn nod of respect, and when his eyes were open, he returned them.

Thace stayed with them the entire way, until they were safely tucked away into the hold of the "scout" ship they'd come in on. He reset the coordinates of it, and handed Hunk the code that would have the craft self-destruct after the Paladins had been picked up by the Castle.

"Good luck," he told them solemnly. He turned to go, but Lance jerked, letting out a short sound. The commander turned, surprised, and Lance lowered his head in a clear gesture of respect. His eyes were full of gratitude, and Thace got the message.

He knelt before Lance, gently gripping his shoulders. "You are most welcome, little blue," he said warmly, and Lance's eyes crinkled in that way they did when he smiled.

Thace rose to his feet and stepped out of the ship, resting his hand over the controls that would open the bay doors, releasing the ship into freedom. "I hope we meet again, Paladins," he said. "Under a much better set of circumstances."

"Thank you, Thace," Shiro said fervently, and the Galra gave them a short bow before opening the bay doors and launching the ship.

* * *

Shiro was sitting on the floor against the wall with Lance in his lap. Keith was in the pilot's chair, only a few feet away, and Hunk was kneeling behind Lance, trying to cut through the chain binding his hands together.

Pidge was rifling around in her backpack, which she'd stored under one of the floor panels of the cockpit. She made a quiet sound as she found whatever it was she was looking for and scooted forward on her knees until she was sitting in front of Lance.

"Hey, Lance, can you look at me?" she asked softly.

He opened his eyes and met her gaze steadily, but didn't raise his head from where it was still leaning against Shiro's shoulder.

She smiled at him, small but real. "I wanna get that thing off your face," she told him. "Do you wanna do it now, or wait till we get back to the Castle?"

Lance tilted forward, letting his head drop onto her shoulder, and she instantly raised one hand to rest lightly on the back of his head. He let out a long breath before sitting up, meeting her eyes steadfastly.

"Now?" she asked, both hands on his shoulders.

He nodded.

"This might hurt," she warned. "I don't know exactly how this thing works, and I might hurt you getting it off."

Lance shook his head hard and leaned towards her more.

"Okay," she said. She took a deep breath and cracked her knuckles, her honey eyes hardening. "Okay. Hunk, how you doing on that chain?"

With one last grunt of effort from Hunk, the chain came off and clanked to the floor.

"Got it," the engineer said, wiping sweat off his brow. "The shackles are still there, but that's more of a precision job, and I'd like to wait on those until we're back in the Castle with more tools and a better workplace."

Pidge nodded to him as Lance slowly moved his arms in front of him, breathing hitching and eyes sliding shut. The muscles in his organic arm were shaking.

"Hey, easy does it," Keith said, rising from his chair and walking back to them. He knelt in front of the Blue Paladin and started to reach for him when he stopped.

"May I?"

Lance smiled at him with his eyes and nodded. Keith shifted around to kneel by his right side and gently moved the arm into his lap, working his fingers into the trembling muscles.

Lance whined softly through his nose, signaling his discomfort, and tucked his head back into Shiro's neck.

"Hey, you're doing great, buddy," his leader soothed, running his fingers through Lance's undercut. "You're doing fine."

"Sorry," Keith muttered with a wince, but he didn't stop. Lance managed to loop their pinkies together and squeeze gently in thanks and reassurance, and the Red Paladin managed a shaky smile in his friend's direction.

Pidge gently started feeling her way around the muzzle, slender fingers searching for a seam or lock or control pad of some kind.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," she groaned, thumping back on her heels and weaving her fingers through the ones on Lance's organic hand. "Stupid Galra. Lance, there's no seam on this thing, and I'm terrified that I'm going to really hurt you trying to get it off without the proper tools. I'm sorry, but this is gonna have to wait until we're at the Castle, and I know I can get it off with minimal pain to you."

He leaned forward and bumped their foreheads together.

"Aw, crap," Keith muttered, leaning around Lance to look at his back. "Moving your arms split some of your scabs. I'm gonna tear up one of those emergency blankets and try to stop the bleeding, okay?"

Lance nodded, leaning back into Shiro's support.

Keith was back in only a few minutes with the strips of blanket, and he pressed firmly on the lacerations to force to blood to clot.

Lance's body stiffened, and a pained sound made its way out of him.

"Shh, shh, shh, you're okay," Shiro said softly. He stroked Lance's hair and clasped their bionic hands together so Lance wouldn't have to worry about squeezing too tight. "I've got you, buddy. I've got you."

"Sorry," Keith whispered, face pale. "Sorry, sorry…"

Lance jerked again as the Red Paladin had to apply more pressure. The cloth in his hands was rapidly turning scarlet. Lance whined again, high and distressed.

"Oh, God!" Keith said, horror and mild panic in his voice.

"Keith, what's going on?" Shiro asked as Hunk pulled Lance's legs onto his lap and Pidge held his organic hand tighter.

"It's the spinal implant," Keith replied. "The…melted skin around it is tearing, and…oh quiznak. This…this doesn't look good, Shiro. I think…I think it's infected. Like, under the skin. On the inside."

"Quiznak," hissed the oldest Paladin, and Lance whimpered, curling in on himself. Shiro cursed again, but in his head this time and at himself. "No, no, you're okay, Lance, this is not your fault. I'm not angry at you, okay?"

He tilted Lance's head up, and his heart shattered into a thousand pieces when he realized that the boy's eyes were full of pained tears, and he was doing everything in his power not to let them fall.

"Oh, Lance," he breathed, pulling him back in close. He pressed a kiss to the top of the boy's head, and the mutilated sob he got in return told him the gesture was greatly appreciated. "I've got you. I've got you. Keith, tear the rest of the blanket into longer strips. Press what you've got over the injury, and just tie it in place with the strips. We're not going to be able to do anything else here, and we're just causing more pain. And he's feeling pretty warm, guys. I don't know if it's just me or what, but I think he might have a fever." He rocked Lance slightly in place. "I'm sorry, kiddo. I'm so sorry."

Hunk reached out and laid a gentle hand on his forehead, paling even farther. "Yeah, that's not good. He definitely has a fever. And he wasn't this warm when we got to him. It's still rising."

Keith nodded, and Pidge kissed Lance's knuckles before passing his hand to Hunk and scrambling up to help Keith. They were done in only a few minutes, but Lance was still trembling in pain when they reached the Castle. Keith took the controls and had them safely landed in record time.

He lowered the ramp and took off at a dead sprint for the bridge. "I'll get Coran and we'll set up the medical bay!" he shouted over his shoulder.

Pidge and Hunk shouted an acknowledgement as Shiro focused on the broken child in his arms.

"Okay, buddy," Shiro whispered. "We're here. We're home."

Lance shuddered, and Shiro carefully, carefully lifted him up. Every muscle in the boy's body went tense, which only caused him more pain.

"I'm so sorry," Shiro repeated, voice cracking. He tightened his hold on his precious burden and carried him carefully down the ramp and through the halls. The Castle had never felt so big before.

Suddenly, running footsteps echoed down the hallway. Pidge and Hunk slid in front of Shiro and Lance, summoning their bayards protectively.

Maybe a little paranoid, considering that they were in the Castle, but this was _Lance_, and they had just got him back. There was no such thing as too careful.

A moment later, Allura skidded around the corner at a full out sprint, breathing hard.

"Lance!" she cried, freezing in place for a moment before recovering and practically flying to his side.

His blue eyes opened, hazy with pain and rising fever. A mutilated sound came from behind the muzzle when he saw her, and _wrath_ exploded to life on her face.

"What. Is That." She bit out, every word sharp and shaking with fury.

Shiro's jaw clenched. "That would be a muzzle," he said carefully.

Allura's hands suddenly blazed with quintessence, and Shiro yelped in shock as she brought them to either side of Lance's face and quite literally melted the thing off of him.

Lance sucked in a great, heaving breath through his mouth and then devolved into great, hacking coughs.

"Easy, easy," Shiro soothed, settling him down on the floor.

Pidge scuttled behind him, gently stroking his hair to calm him while Hunk took his hand.

But Lance couldn't seem to get a breath in.

Allura _ripped _the muzzle into four separate pieces and melted them into slag before she extinguished her quintessence and knelt next to them.

"Lance," she called, cutting through their rising panic with an easy, calming authority. She reached out, cupping Lance's face and lifting it gently. There were bloody lines carved into his skin where the edges of the muzzle had cut him, but she ignored them for the time being. "I need you to breathe with me, love," she said, giving him a smile. "In…and out. In…and out." She exaggerated her own breathing, keeping her voice soft and calm, and in no time, he was breathing normally again.

He took a deep, unhindered breath, and tears flooded his eyes.

"..ank…ou," he rasped out, voice almost completely gone. "th…y…"

Her eyes shimmered with tears of her own and she kissed his forehead. "Don't try to speak yet, alright? We're going to get you all fixed up and you're going to be perfectly fine. That's an order, Paladin. Understand me?"

A little smile pulled at his mouth, and his lips were so dry that they bled, but it was a _Lance smile_, the first time any of them had seen one in over a year and a half, and it was enough to drive all of them to tears.

Lance gave her a firm nod, and she nodded back.

"Very well, then," she rose to her feet and helped Shiro stand without jostling Lance too badly.

But he still went rigid, and when a strangled scream tore out of his throat, Shiro almost missed the muzzle.

Almost.

"Hurry," Allura ordered, face hard.

They made it to the medical wing in a remarkably short amount of time.

Coran was already there, with an armful of supplies that he almost dropped when he finally caught sight of Lance.

"Oh, my boy," he said brokenly, reaching out a shaking hand to rest it gently on his forehead.

Lance offered a tiny smile. "…oran…" he croaked, lifting his organic hand and squeezing Coran's tight.

"Quick, lay him down over here," the older Altean ordered, gesturing to a nearby cot.

"Is he not going in the pods?!" Keith demanded from where he was sorting bandages on the other side of the room.

"He can't right now," Coran explained as he and Shiro worked to get Lance lying down on his stomach.

Everyone flinched at Lance's muffled cry of pain when Shiro had to put pressure on his back to turn him over.

"If what you said about the infection is true, then—" Coran's voice died as he got his first good look at Lance's mutilated back.

His face went a pasty shade of green, and a tiny wail escaped Allura, tears streaming from her eyes. Both of them froze, absolute horror painting their features.

"Coran!" Shiro snapped. He felt kind of bad about it when the Altean nearly jumped out of his skin, but Lance was still burning up with fever, and the blood and pus leaking from his back had the Black Paladin borderline panicking.

"The pods can't heal infection," Allura answered, hurrying forward and running a soothing hand through Lance's hair.

The boy was still letting out soft sounds of pain, now almost completely delirious. He turned blindly into her hand, tears streaking his pale, sweaty face.

"We have to bring his fever down," Coran said, visibly shaking himself. "Allura, I need that numbing and disinfecting agent we've got in the fourth cabinet. The entire thing. Make it into a compress, and pack it down the length of the…the spine."

The Princess nodded, taking off at a run for the far wall of cabinets.

"Alright, Paladins, out," Coran said firmly.

There was a general explosion of protests at that, but Coran raised his voice for the first time in anybody's memory.

"NOW!" he thundered. "This boy needs help_ right now_ and I cannot help him and deal with you at the same time! Now OUT!" his voice softened. "I swear, we will come and tell you as soon as we have news."

As they stepped out, Shiro looked over his shoulder one last time.

Allura was standing by the table with several jars of a slightly glowing, pale blue liquid, and she was running her hands through Lance's undercut as Coran prepared to pour one of the jars over Lance's back.

Then the door slid shut, and he couldn't see him anymore.

But they could all hear him screaming.

Pidge broke down into desperate sobs, diving into Keith's arm and clinging to him. He sank to the floor and hauled her onto his lap, hiding his own tears in her hair. Hunk joined them, and Shiro stumbled to his knees beside them, wrapping his arms around them and shuddering _hard_ as another scream rang out through the door.

All they could do was wait and hope and pray that their broken blue boy would make it out alright.

* * *

**Oh, the poor babs. But have no fear! Chapter four is going to be a lot happier. **

**Possibly. **

**Maybe. **

***evil laughter***

**So it should be up Saturday after next! If it's not, I forgot about it and I'll publish it when I remember. (You know, like I do everything...ha ha...)**

**Till next time! **


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